There’s a video coming soon that features the Sama from Tawi-Tawi. It’s named, “Thy Womb” (which means in Sinama, “Kulunannu.”). The starring actor is Nora Aunor with a supporting cast of Bembol Roco, Lovi Poe, and Mercedes Cabral. The movie is directed by Brillante Mendoza.

This is not the first movie to come out where the Sama are portrayed by actors and a director from Luzon. We’d like to recall the video, “Badjao” from 1957 that starred Tony Santos and Rosa Rosal. This movie is famous because it was the only movie of it’s time to try and portray the culture of other Filipino tribes. We like this video, despite some of its errors in regards to the Sama. (For instance, their Muslim dance is not realistic and it looks worse than it sound to watch the myth about Sama Dilaut (Badjao) throwing their newborn children into the ocean.) They did a good job of showing the disdain that many Tausug have for Sama and also the difficulties experienced in a mixed marriage of Tausug and Sama.

We have high hopes that “Thy Womb” will surpass the movie “Badjao.” It has very gifted actors such as Nora Aunor and a talented director such as Brillante Mendoza. We can’t wait for this to hit theatres so that we can observe the beauty of Tawi-Tawi.